A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1529-1587
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(Pily,) Pilie, a. Also: pyl- and -ey, -é. [Pile n.4 Cf. Pilit ppl. a.] Having a ( ? coarse) hairy surface, or a ( ? hairy) pile or nap.Common in collocations with gray, with which it is sometimes written as one word.(1) 1529 Treasurer's Accounts V. 358.
Tua eln of pylie gray to be ane cloik to the king … xxvj s. viij d. 1532–3 Ib. VI. 80.
To be the king ane ryding galcoit vj quarteris pylie Franche gray 1539 Ib. VII. 272.
Pyley gray 1542 Ib. VIII. 96.
Scottis pylie gray 1543 Ib. 232.
Ane nycht goun of pyle gray 1547 Ex. Processes (Reg. H.) Walbane v. Douglas.
Ane pe of Franche pylie gray price iij li. 1558 Old Dundee II. 331.
Ane stick of claith of pyle gray 1559 Rentale Dunkeld. 354.
Pylegray 1563–4 Linlithgow Sheriff Ct. 20 Jan. 1568 Edinburgh Testaments I. 176 b.
Pylygray 1570 Ib. II. 112 b.
Pyly gray clayth 1586 Treasurer's Accounts MS. 123.
Pilie gray(2) 1549 Stirling B. Rec. I. 57.
Ane gown of Scottis pyle russet 1586 Edinburgh Testaments XV. 197 b.
Thrie ellis & half ane quarter Scottis of pylie demy 1587 St. A. Test. II. 86.
He levis to him his best clok of pyle russet
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"Pily adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/pily>
